If you “Do the Dew,” you might already know that Mountain Dew has a pretty involved viral site for The Dark Knight Rises. There are plenty of movie-related areas to explore, exclusive items to check out and contests to enter. The most interesting thing to come out of the site so far is a letter from Wayne Enterprises’ head of R&D, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), addressed to a reclusive Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale). In it, Fox expresses his concern over Wayne’s absence, the growing frustration of the board members, a mysterious project that’s sucking up an “astronomical” amount of capital and even drops a name that may be a throwback to Batman: The Animated Series. Hit the jump to read more. [Update: We’ve added new information to this story.]

The letter, found in the “Applied Sciences” area of the Mountain Dew website, can be found fully transcribed below (via Batman-News). Here are the interesting bits:

I hope this letter finds you well. Although I would have liked to have had this conversation with you personally, Alfred tells me I am better off writing as you are not receiving any visitors at the moment.

Wayne’s absence from his company’s daily grind isn’t unheard of, but this seems to hint at a more sinister reason for his disappearance as Fox and Wayne normally share a good amount of screen time. Some reports suggest that this is answered at the beginning of The Dark Knight Rises, with Wayne having sustained injuries from the fall at the end of The Dark Knight. I, however, seem to think that any absence would be from Batman’s first run-in with Bane (Tom Hardy). Onto the next bit:

But over the past five quarters, our earnings have been on the downtrend. Meanwhile, our R&D spending has been on an astronomical uptrend. And as the black grows fainter around the entire company, I am being put into a position where I have to answer certain questions, particularly about your energy project.

No one is going to dispute the fact that innovation is key to our growth and success. It’s a mainstay of our business, which is all the more reason why the Board has begun to scrutinize our R&D budget and set their sights on your machine. Since they don’t know exactly what you’re up to, all they understand is a vast amount of capital is being spent on something they now deem as fruitless – quest for clean energy. Herein lies the problem.

Fox goes on to talk about Wayne growing into his father’s shoes and using the company resources for the betterment of Gotham. Could this energy project have been scrapped due to its destructive capabilities (a theme explored with the invasive Bat Radar tech in The Dark Knight) and could it be the weapon that Bane manages to get his hands on?

Lastly, Fox drops a somewhat similar name to a character found in Batman: The Animated Series:

I can see a couple [of] Board Members already maneuvering to build influence around the table, most notably John Daggett, who I feel is the last person we want to engage in a power struggle.

John Daggett may be a nod back to Roland Daggett, who was head of Daggett Industries, a pharmaceutical company responsible for the creation of the villain Clayface. May be nothing to this other than fan service, but man would I love to see Clayface in some future Batman iteration. Check out the full letter below, and click here to get caught up on all of our The Dark Knight Rises coverage:

Dear Bruce,

I hope this letter finds you well. Although I would have liked to have had this conversation with you personally, Alfred tells me I am better off writing as you are not receiving any visitors at the moment. That being the case, I’ll do my best to detail what I feel is becoming a situation within the company.

It’s a given that in the current economic climate our investors have become increasingly concerned about how their money is being spent. As such, our own profitability is being judged and analyzed, particularly by the Board itself. In the past, we haven’t given them any reason to worry as both our earnings and spending have been consistent. This allowed us the autonomy to dedicate resources to Wayne philanthropic programs as well as our own R&D endeavors. But over the past five quarters, our earnings have been on the downtrend. Meanwhile, our R&D spending has been on an astronomical uptrend. And as the black grows fainter around the entire company, I am being put into a position where I have to answer certain questions, particularly about your energy project.

No one is going to dispute the fact that innovation is key to our growth and success. It’s a mainstay of our business, which is all the more reason why the Board has begun to scrutinize our R&D budget and set their sights on your machine. Since they don’t know exactly what you’re up to, all they understand is a vast amount of capital is being spent on something they now deem as fruitless – quest for clean energy. Herein lies the problem.

The last time we spoke, you expressed your reluctance to move the project forward and initiate the next phase of trials. I understand your argument as to why. But if you want the company to continue to fund your efforts, I think it is time we give the Board more than just the overview they already have, enlightening them on what this project will mean to Gotham if you are successful. On a personal note, I’d also like to let them know that with age, Bruce Wayne has decided to fill his father’s shoes, using Wayne Enterprises and all its resources to readily and reliably support our city.

Nothing bad can come from this, Bruce. But if you decide not to address the issue at hand, I am not sure how long I can keep the Board at bay. Making matters more difficult is your absence. I am assuming you have your reasons for it and it is not my job to question those, but I fear that if you are going to drop off the radar for an extended period of time, we may risk another Bill Earle situation. I can see a couple [of] Board Members already maneuvering to build influence around the table, most notably John Daggett, who I feel is the last person we want to engage in a power struggle.

When I agreed to take on this role I knew full well what the job and our agreement entailed. I am also well aware of your preferred ways of handling all matters relating to Wayne Enterprises However, I must tell you that we are quickly approaching a set of circumstances that will unfortunately call for a change if we do not address the Board. Change in most instances is not a bad thing, but in this regard I am worried. I’m sure you consider my pessimism to be just another part of my charm. That may be the case, but let’s remember: you didn’t hire me for my charm.

I look forward to hearing from you.

With luck it will be in person.

Regards,
Lucius Fox

UPDATE: Bruce Wayne has now written a reply to Lucius Fox. Bruce Wayne clearly keeps it classy by using a hand-written notes instead of e-mails:

Lucius,

Tell the board that as of today the program is shut down. As we discussed before, there is too much at stake and the risk is too great. That is my only concern.